Who Are Geovany Quenda and Dário Essugo, Chelsea’s Latest Exciting Additions?

Chelsea have agreed deals with Sporting CP to add youngsters Geovany Quenda and Dário Essugo to their already significant ranks, but what will the Blues eventually be getting?

Nothing can stop Chelsea from signing footballers. Not even the fact it’s March.

Of course, no players can actually move until the summer transfer window opens, but Sporting CP confirmed on Wednesday that Geovany Quenda and Dário Essugo will be joining Chelsea for around £44 million and £18.4m, respectively.

The acquisition of Quenda – who will stay at Sporting on loan until the end of the 2025-26 season – is particularly eyebrow-raising given the 17-year-old winger had been consistently linked with Manchester United, where he would have reunited with former boss Ruben Amorim. But as has happened so often since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital came on the scene at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea swooped to seal a deal.

Essugo – who is on loan at La Liga side Las Palmas – is scheduled to be at Chelsea next season, with reports suggesting the intention is for the 20-year-old midfielder to be a backup option for Moisés Caicedo.

What will Chelsea be getting for their money, though?

Quenda was given his first-team debut at Sporting by Amorim in August at just 17 years and 95 days old in the Portuguese Super Cup against Porto, and he even found the net to become club’s youngest ever scorer in what was ultimately a 4-3 defeat after extra-time.

A tricky winger who likes to take on defenders, he has been a regular part of the first team ever since, with Francisco Trincão the only Sporting player able to match his 26 Primeira Liga appearances this season.

Despite this being his first season of senior football, Quenda has already become one of Sporting’s main creative forces. Only teammate Trincão (57) and Benfica’s Orkun Kökçü (58) have created more chances in the Primeira Liga this season than Quenda (48), while just four players in the division have recorded more than his 122 crosses.

In fact, his 48 chances created this season is the most of any player under the age of 20 playing across Europe’s top seven leagues, ahead of Lamine Yamal (46), Tom Bischof (43), Désiré Doué (37) and Kenan Yildiz (36).

Though he is predominantly left-footed, when dribbling at defenders he is happy enough to cut onto his right if it means being able to outwit his opponent.

Quenda’s form has been made all the more impressive by the upheaval at the Estádio José Alvalade this season, where he is already playing under his third manager despite only making his debut seven months ago.

Amorim left for the Premier League in November, and his replacement João Pereira only lasted a little over a month. Rui Borges came in just after Christmas and immediately changed Quenda’s role, moving him from the right, where he had been playing as a wing-back in a three-at-the-back system, to the left side of a four-man midfield.

His one league goal this season vs Famalicão in October came under Amorim, but all four of his assists have come since Borges was appointed. Quenda has the most assists of any player in the Primeira Liga since the turn of the year (four), and is one of just two players, along with Trincão, to start all 11 league matches since Borges’ arrival.

He is also entrusted with most of the team’s corner kicks. Quenda has taken 61 corners in the Primeira Liga this season, more than twice as many as any of his Sporting teammates.

He also featured in all 10 of Sporting’s UEFA Champions League games this season, becoming the fourth-youngest player (17y 295d) to reach 10 appearances in the UEFA Champions League after Yamal (16y 278d), Youri Tielemans (17y 216d) and Jude Bellingham (17y 289d).

One of those appearances was in Sporting’s impressive 4-1 home win over Manchester City in the league phase, in which Quenda produced a fine assist for Viktor Gyökeres’ equaliser, sliding in a perfectly weighted through ball to the big Swede.

The teenager does his work going the other way, too. Fabio Roque, one of Quenda’s coaches in Sporting’s academy, told Sky Sports: “He is so committed in defensive moments and defensive duels. He plays so well there because the space that he covers on the field is huge.

“Geo is so demanding with himself in the defensive moments. To close, to recover fast, to win the defensive duels for his teammates. It reminds me of Bukayo Saka in the beginning of his career when he played as a full-back.”

Only four of his teammates have won possession more often than Quenda in the Primeira Liga this season (81), three of whom are centre-backs and the other being defensive midfielder Morten Hjulmand. Similarly, only those same four players and left-back/wing-back Maximiliano Araújo have made more than his nine interceptions.

Interestingly, comparisons have been made with fellow 17-year-old prodigy, Estêvão, who will arrive at Chelsea in the summer, but the Brazilian’s agent recently said Chelsea’s plan is to play him as a 10.

Quenda will be allowed to develop for another year in Lisbon, but it will be interesting to see if his future is ultimately on the left or the right, or both.

Essugo is three years older than Quenda but the defensive midfielder also burst onto the scene as a very young prospect. He became Sporting’s youngest ever player when he came on as a late substitute in a 1-0 league win over Vitoria de Guimarães on 20 March 2021, just six days after his 16th birthday.

The 20-year-old is on loan at Las Palmas, who have had an up-and-down season to say the least. They didn’t win any of their first nine La Liga games (D3 L6), which led to the sacking of head coach Luis Carrión. They then won six of their next nine (D1 L2), including beating Barcelona 2-1 at Estadi de Montjuïc, but haven’t won any of their last 10 (D3 L7).

Despite that inconsistency, Essugo himself has been a bright spark. He is a well-rounded midfielder, predominantly tasked with winning possession, but he is also comfortable in possession, solid enough in his passing and willing to dribble his way through crowded areas in midfield when necessary.

Essugo is particularly impressive in duels, winning 97 of a possible 180 in La Liga (53.9%). He has won 12 of 13 duels (92.3%) on two separate occasions, in defeats to Celta Vigo and Atlético Madrid, while he won 18 of 26 in a 0-0 draw at Real Sociedad, winning possession nine times in that game. Only two players in La Liga have won more than 18 duels in a game this season, and just four have won possession more than nine times in a single game.

He also wins the ball back through his impressive anticipation, with only four players in La Liga to have played at least 600 minutes this season averaging more than his 1.9 interceptions per 90 minutes.

Of players under the age of 21 in Europe’s top five leagues this season, only Bournemouth’s Dean Huijsen (42), Reims’ Valentin Atangana Edoa (30) and Valencia’s Cristhian Mosquera (30) have made more interceptions than Essugo (28).

He is generally tidy on the ball, though has on occasion been caught out making passes that can put his team in danger. Overall, he’s completed 86.2% of his passes in the league this season. By comparison, Caicedo has completed 90.2% of his passes in the Premier League in 2024-25, and has averaged more attempted passes per 90 (60.1) than Essugo (45.3), though obviously that will have more to do with the fact Chelsea have a higher average possession of the ball (58.2%) than Las Palmas (50.5%) in their respective leagues.

However, it should also be noted that only 24.0% of Caicedo’s passes this season have been forward, whereas Essugo has passed forward with 28.0% of his, which in general means he is attempting more high-risk passes.

Like Quenda, Essugo has just one league goal to his name this season, scoring against Mallorca in November in a 3-2 home defeat with a deflected shot from the edge of the penalty area.

One thing he will certainly need to improve on is his ability to stay on the field; Essugo has been sent off twice in his last four games. The first against Osasuna was for a second yellow card after sarcastically applauding the referee. His second dismissal earlier this month against Real Betis was also for a second yellow, so he needs to learn how to manage himself when on a booking.

With Essugo apparently intended to be part of the Chelsea first-team squad next season, his presence could impact Andrey Santos and Lesley Ugochukwu, fellow central midfielders who are the same age and are having productive loan spells at Strasbourg and Southampton respectively this season.

Santos has slightly more attacking instincts so you could conceivably pair him with either, but as you can see from their player radar comparisons below, Essugo and Ugochukwu have similar output in certain areas. Essugo is in the 85th percentile across Europe’s top five leagues for ground duels while Ugochukwu is in the 90th (Santos is in the 100th). The former is also in the 64th percentile for aerials won, while the latter is in the 56th. Both are in the 13th percentile for expected goals.

Chelsea do not appear to be wavering from their plan to acquire as many exciting young players as possible, and Quenda and Essugo are yet more signings for the future. Well, all signings are technically for the future.

Blues fans can look forward to welcoming them to Stamford Bridge as the club continues to build a talented young squad to fulfil their long-term vision.

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